O. For 0-fer, old and over the hill. That describes the majority of the Lakers roster at this point. Only one man seems capable of continuing to defy Father Time and that would be one LeBron James. The King continued to pour in points, give forth supreme effort and all in a loss. Another Christmas day game, another loss this one to the equally short handed Nets. Hopefully Santa treated the rest of your holidays with more grace.
- All hail The King. There aren’t enough superlatives.. The man is bionic, amazing and nigh unstoppable. If we had half a team around him we’d be doing better. We don’t. LeBron James outdueled James Harden in terms of points scored but the Nets walked away with the W for reasons we’ll get into down yonder. LBJ had a monster line although I don’t quite get how Harden got to the line 17 times and James only 9. That Nets defense I guess…couldn’t be the Captain of the Flop getting his way by whining on literally every single possession. Oh, Harden gave THT what maybe should have been a Flagrant 2 groin shot, as well. Keep it classy, James.
- Russell Westbrook’s effort if not results. I have to agree with LeBron, that Russ isn’t the problem. He’s putting forth the right kind of effort and no Laker fan should have mistaken Russ for Dame in terms fo scoring output. Russ led both teams in every rebounding category possible. He grabbed 5 offensive rebounds on his own. He led both teams in assists which means he’s making the right plays while only turning it over 3 times. The problem was Russ often played when LeBron sat and our starting five got obliterated. SO, to put the whole loss at Westbrook’s feet is, to me, an improper placing of blame. Yes, the rim blocked his dunk in his 37th minute of play but he’s also been one of a few Lakers available for every single game to date. While Russ may not be the player we want, or even need, he is doing what he can. It’s not Westbrook’s fault Rob chose aged players in doling out minimum deals last summer, not Westbrook’s fault THT is playing like a G-Leaguer or that we’re now relying on G-Leaguers to win NBA games. That’s just the situation he finds himself in. The missed dunk was infuriating, though. I doubt anyone was as pissed at him as he was at himself.
- We need THT to return to something resembling what we believe he can be. Again, I don’t need him to be the second coming of anyone at all, just to be the THT we’ve seen in flashes. Play adequate defense, take it to the rim with purpose and not to avoid contact and get the shot off. As the 4th highest paid Laker, albeit with some distance between the sums of the top 3, we need more. The same can of course be said of Russel Westbrook but THT was chosen over another guy who we know makes a nightly impact and that, fair or not, is the barometer by which he will be measured. The problem is what he’s shown us he’s capable of. Like Kuzma before him if you our in 30 points and hit shots from everywhere fans will get frustrated when you don’t show that consistently. They get stuck on what you did a handful of times as opposed to being content with effort. In THT’s case, though, he still seems to blame his teammates for many of his defensive miscues. I though the intent of his groin shot from Harden should have resulted in an F2 ejection. Wasn’t a basketball move, you see James extend the arm deliberately and make contact. But, being the NBA poster boy for ref love has it’s advantages I guess.
- Speaking of the NBA referee’s union poster boy for love and care. The running stiff arm Harden uses feels like an offensive foul to me. If LeBron played like that and bowled guys over all over the court like Harden, CP3 and Trae Young do he’d be ejected most games for 6 fouls or flagrant fouls. That is an illegal clearing out of space, in my opinion. Evidently the NBA thinks it’s really great for the game, though.
- Stanley Johnson’s big game. Stan made a pretty solid Laker debut and I sure hope we keep him past the 10 day mark. There are few Lakers on the roster with his speed and size and we desperately need more of them. All it would take is to waive human log man DeAndre Jordan. But since we know that won’t be happening we’ll likely see Stan snagged by another team this season because Rob is such a genius GM…
This is likely going to get worse before it gets better. Luckily we play in the western conference, which is a mess this season, so we’re still in the playoff picture. A loss by Dallas last night means we’re sitting at 7th place only one spot below the play-in threshold and with the news that Paul George will be out for an extended time due to a torn UCL we’re still alive and kicking. I do believe that, even with DeAndre Jordan on the roster, we have the pieces to contend purely on the play of LeBron James and this cast of old, slow players. The playoffs a re geared towards a slower pace of play, we have battle-tested vets, and the best player in the game today. Just need to get healthy and find a groove of any kind. Go Lakers.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Jamie.
And thanks to you for the great job as co-publisher of Lakerholics.Com. We may disagree on specific issues but there’s never been a question of either of our love for the Lakers and playing the game of basketball how it’s supposed to be played.
1. All hail The King. Anybody who doubts LeBron James continued greatness and status as a top-five player in the world, is just a freakin’ hater. Playing like a young man when you’re almost 37 is unbelievable. We just need to surround him with players who care and play as hard. Too many guys who won’t be here in June.
2. Russell Westbrook’s Effort. I’ve been there with you on Russ from the get-go, Jamie, but it’s too much chaos for me to continue to support. I can live with turnovers and missed layups but when you don’t play defense or get back into the game after a bad play, it infects the entire team with a lack of caring that is inexcusable to me as a former player and coach. Time to move on.
I don’t put last night’s loss on Russ as it is a team game but there comes a point in time when leaders should lead and, like it or not, Russ is a leader on this team and games like these show his leadership by example to be unacceptable. Playing hard some of the time is great. Quitting after a missed shot and not rotating or paying attention on defense is a killer. Yeah, the refs should have called fouls but not hustling afterwards is not acceptable.
3. THT is a bust. There’s no other way to describe him at this point. He is not only playing poorly but has no chance of helping the team positively because he’s lost his confidence and cannot stay in front of his man on defense. He needs to be benched and brought back slowly and responsibly. Putting him in a role he is just not able to fulfill offensively or defensively is going to ruin him as a potential star player. No way he should be starting. Fizdale is a fool just like Vogel for trying to fit a square player into a round hole.
4. Ref’s poster boy. Those push offs by Harden were all offensive fouls. He just has mastered keeping his arm close to the body, which is the measure the refs use to determine whether the push off was an offensive foul or not. There’s no player in the league that I dislike or disrespect more than James ]
‘Regular Season’ Harden. Hope the Nets and he fold and fade away.
5. Give Stanley Johnson a contract. Right now, I don’t care if he can’t shoot. At least, we have one guy with the size, technique, and savvy to defend a player bigger than 6’ 5”. I keep hearing about how great KCP and Danny and Alex were but the truth is none of them ever seemed to be able to stay in front of players like Harden. I thought Johnson was the key to our comeback with his defense. Only one game but more than I’ve seen on D from a Laker this season on the perimeter. Far better than Avery Bradley.
And you’re right, it’s likely to get worse before better but that will help force Rob to make moves he might not make. We need to move Russ, THT, and Nunn to get more size, defense, and wins.
How the heck we gonna dump Westy? Perhaps Philly for Ben?
I agree with everything you said, Jamie. I like the fact that you called a spade a spade when it comes to Russ. Frustration seems to be boiling over among fans about the way things are going with his play. I will say this until he is replaced I am going to be supportive of him. For a guy who shows up every night, works hard for rebounds, and assists he should be appreciated. Was I frustrated seeing him miss all those wide-open layups? I was more than frustrated, but you have to take the good and the bad with you in any given situation. You can count Russ as one player who will show up every night.
Now, my biggest question for the Lakers is when are we going to stop teams from scoring at least 100 points in the first 3 quarters? This is really becoming a problem and needs to be dealt with.